The present application is based on Japanese priority application No. 10-327198 filed on Nov. 17, 1998, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information processing method, an information processing device and a program storage medium, and particularly relates to an information processing method, an information processing device and a program storage medium for displaying optimum screens on various types of output terminals using a common application.
2. Description of the Related Art
A client/server system includes a server and various client terminals connected to a server. The client/server system may also include a host computer connected to the server. The server and/or the host computer are/is provided with application programs, which can be commonly accessed by the client terminals having different display configurations.
In the related art, in order to display optimum screens on the client terminals, the application programs are programmed so as to be adapted to respective ones of the client terminals to be connected to the server. For example, the application programs are programmed using window sizes and window formats corresponding to screen resolutions of the client terminals to be connected.
Thus, when a client terminal with a new display configuration is connected to the server, the application programs should be rewritten. For example, if the newly connected client terminal conforms with the HTML, the program should be rewritten in conformity with the HTML.
However, it is often the case that, after the application programs have been developed, staff involved in a program development project move out from that project. This causes a problem that a rewriting of the application programs becomes difficult. That is to say, when a client terminal with a new display configuration is connected to the server, the application programs must be programmed from the very beginning.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an information processing method, an information processing device and a program storage medium which can reduce the above drawbacks.
It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide an information processing method, an information processing device and a program storage medium which can easily alter a system configuration.
In order to achieve the above object, an information processing method to be carried out on an information processing device provided with a plurality of application programs and whereto a plurality of output terminals are connected of the present invention includes the steps of:
a) specifying an output terminal from the output terminals;
b) defining output information to be output at the specified output terminal and identification information corresponding to the output information;
c) preparing at least one display format for each type of the output terminals and each screen to be displayed on the output terminals, the display format including the identification information;
d) selecting a display format based on the specified output terminal and the identification information;
e) inserting the output information into the selected display format according to the identification information; and
f) sending the selected display format provided with the output information to the specified output terminal.
The above object is also achieve by an information processing method to be carried out on an information processing device provided with a plurality of application programs and whereto a plurality of client terminals are connected, the method including the steps of:
a) defining an output format for each type of the client terminals;
b) selecting an output format defined for a specified client terminal; and
c) sending information to be output to the specified client terminal based on the selected output format.
According to the above inventions, there is no need to reprogram the application programs when a further terminal of a different type is connected to the information processing device.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a program storage medium storing program code readable by a computer, the program code tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform the information processing methods described above.
Further, according to the present invention, there is also provided an information processing device which can implement the above-described methods.